That's The Spirit

The best new rums might be rich and flavourful enough to make single-malt devotees take notice.

- Words: Jonah Flicker

FOR YEARS, SPIRITS enthusiasts have hoped that rum finally might have its whisky moment and achieve the same runaway popularity as bourbon and Scotch. That hasn't happened. And yet, neither legacy distilleries nor upstart brands have been deterred. Lately, there have been more fantastic new blends and single-cask expressions released than we've seen in a long time. So while we wait for these bottles to get their turn in the spotlight, one thing is certain: you have a better chance of scoring one of these limited editions than you do the next allocation of Buffalo Trace. Here, the most exciting—and more importantly, the most delicious—rums we've tried in recent memory.

APPLETON ESTATE HEARTS COLLECTION 1998